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The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

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The People of Our Community

An ongoing series of articles about interesting people in our communities.

SP, Fanwood Icon Manya Ungar Puts Children First in Work as Advocate By SUSAN M. DYCKMAN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

She’s an opinionated, independent thinker with a magnetic manner of speaking. A loving wife, mother of two and grandmother of four. An icon within the Scotch PlainsFanwood school community with both a scholarship and high school auditorium named after her. A marvelous storyteller with a terrific sense of humor.

Scotch Plains resident Manya Ungar launched her work with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in 1958 — before her sons were even enrolled in school — and took it to heights that amaze her even today.

Locally, statewide and nationally, she’s been a force in child advocacy for more than 40 years, and it all started over sidewalks.

While living on Coriell Avenue in Fanwood, Mrs. Ungar heard from a neighbor that the school district was considering instituting three sessions of kindergarten — the first beginning about 7 a. m., the third ending about 4: 45 p. m. — in an effort to cope with severe overcrowding.

At the time, there were no sidewalks along Martine Avenue on which children could walk to LaGrande School (now Children’s Specialized Hospital) in Fanwood, nor were there crossing guards to supervise their safe passage.

Then, as today, there were a large percentage of residents without children in the schools. In those days, the community’s resistance to make improvements to the schoolsystem hadresultedinfailed budgets as well as failed bond referendums.

“It occurred to me (that my children), if the situation was not tified, would face the same problem,” said Mrs. Ungar. She spun

into action. She turned first to those civic organizations with which she was familiar — groups such as The League of Women of Voters with whomMrs. Ungar’smotherhadbeen actively involved in California. The PTA, which was “Mickey Mouse” as far as her mother was concerned, was not Mrs. Ungar’s first choice as a mechanism for getting things done.

However, when the civic organizations she approached dismissed school issues as not being part of their agenda, she turned to thenLa Grande School PTA President Jane Watson, who welcomed her into the parent/ teacher organization.

Given the nature of what she wanted — sidewalks and crossing guards — Mrs. Ungar quickly found herself advocating at a local, county and state level. “Everybody pushed me along to someone else,” she recalled.

“Substantial” legislative issues like safety and school funding were her passion. The bake sale/ fundraising aspect of PTA was not her thing. “I was a lousy baker; nobody ever asked me,” she said.

But, she did love theater and the wealth of cultural experiences that beckoned from New York City.

“I was appalled that most of my neighbors were afraid to take advantage of the culture within spitting distance,” said Mrs. Ungar, who set out to bring that culture to the children of the community by launching a children’s theater program, better known today as Young People’s Theatre.

Mrs. Ungar also struck a deal with the Newark Museum for a traveling exhibit program. She got athome moms like herself to trek

into Newark once a month “armed with a list of materials that the teachers could use.”

She recalled being stopped by a policeman on Route 22 in Hillside after just such a museum run. The officer had been flagged by a trucker onaCBradio, whoreportedawoman endangering her children by transporting a load of wild animals. What the driver couldn’t see was that the

animals were stuffed.

Interests Fueled Efforts

Her early PTA efforts were fueled by her interests. Mrs. Ungar took the things she was trained in (music

stayand theater) and figured out how to

recuse the PTA as a vehicle to bring

these elements to the community. Using her background as an actress, Mrs. Ungar and good friend, Judy Cole, taught a popular summer theater workshop for 11 years that longtime residents still talk about. “I loved working with the kids,” she said.

“They learned what they couldn’t learn in school... and it helped bring out the artistry in many children.”

As her sons moved into high school, Mrs. Ungar took on increasingly higher profile and more timeconsuming positionswithinthePTA.

She had been the Union County Legislative Chairman, then chaired the state legislative services branch of the PTA. The only way the PTA could pull Mrs. Ungar away from legislative issues was to name her

president. She served as New Jersey State PTA President from 19791981, a position which saw her visit every school district in the state over the course of her twoyear term. The post called for her to be in the state office in Trenton twice a week and to testify before the State Board of Education and various legislative committees as needed.

During that time, she served on the advisory council to the Education Law Center asAbbott versus Burke took center stage in the courtroom.

Then, as today, themes set the tone for the PTA’s activities from thecounty throughthenationallevel. Themes gave her trouble until Mrs. Ungar obtained a copy of “Where Children Come First — A Study of the P. T. A. Idea,” by Harry and Bonaro Overstreet. The book, first published in 1949, looks back to 1897 and the mission of the National Congress of Mothers, precursor to today’s PTA.

“It was clear their focus was advocacy, involvement and meaningful service,” she said. That became Mrs. Ungar’s theme.

She followed the path laid by “gutsy ladies” who spoke out on education and children’s rights a quarter century before they even had the right to vote.

“They challenged the Congress of the United States,” she declared. “They called for free kindergarten, free textbooks, school libraries, free

school lunches and a bureau of children’s health. They took on issues such as equal pay for women and sex education before puberty.”

“They were shrewd enough to work the system,” said Mrs. Ungar, who noted the founders even recruited the Governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, to their cause. He chaired the Advisory Council of the National Congress for 19 years.

“In flowery, but fiery prose,” explained Mrs. Ungar, “the PTA founders stated their goal: to unite adults to serve the needs of all children... believing if they did, it would make a better world.”

“If you could galvanize adults today as they did,” she stressed, “there’s nothing you couldn’t do.”

Active in National PTA

Mrs. Ungar presided over theNationalPTAfrom 19871989. In her work at the national level, she traveled between 100,000 and 150,000 air miles every year, visiting every state at least once.

From 19911995, she served as a registered unpaid lobbyist for the national PTA.

On the national scene, she worked alongside such dignitaries as the late Chief Justice Warren Burger, Former First Lady Betty Ford, and Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton. Mrs. Ungar also worked with the Center for Disease Control on developing an Aids Education program.

“It was so rewarding, so exciting,” she said. “Never in a million years could I imagine that sidewalks and the threat of triple sessions would lead me to that place. There’s no way I could ever imagine the personal growth that could come.”

Mrs. Ungar’s final appearance as national president at the annual convention went down in the annals of PTA history. Stepping up to the podium before 2,000 people, she announced, “It’s not over ’til the fat lady sings.”

She proceeded to belt out a song, specially written for the occasion by her and her husband, Skip, who accompanied her that night on the piano.

“She sang her farewell. There was not a dry eye in the house,” recalled Fanwood resident Gail Moser, who attended the convention as the district’s incoming PTA Council President. “It was so fitting for her.”

Closer to home, Mrs. Ungar was asked several times to serve on the Scotch PlainsFanwood Board of Education. She, however, preferred being perceived as someone who was independent.

“I could be far more effective and important not being part of those nine people. It left me free to say what I want to say.”

She, her husband Skip, Fanwood resident Joe Nagy and others formed the Association of Good Schools, a group which screened and groomed interested citizens to serve as board members. In its day, the group was criticized, she said, for being “king

makers.” She recalled how the board of education meetings of the ‘60s and ‘70s were characterized in a

Courier News editorial as a source of “real entertainment.” Board members used to throw candy at members of the public from whom they did not want to hear, according to Mrs. Ungar.

She said her husband, who attended board meetings alongside his wife, is a wonderful lyricist and limerick writer. He actually wrote verses about the board’s antics.

“Things are far more open now,” said Mrs. Ungar. She and her supporters had pushed for changes in the sunshine laws to prohibit the board from arbitrarily suspending public meetings and recessing into private executive session. “It was a very exciting, challenging time.”

When asked what’s different now, Mrs. Ungar thought a bit.

“People were much more passionate. That fascinates and frustrates me there is so little passion today,” she said. “There was a lot of controversy, a great sense of urgency. (Today) I don’t see urgency or a sense of coalition around an issue and bringing a sense of concern to the fore in a way to change things you don’t like.”

She admitted that, even years ago, during more tumultuous times, not everyone shared her sense of urgency. There were people who were simply more comfortable with bake sales.

View of PTA

Mrs. Ungar, however, saw the PTA as a forum that would listen to all sides of an issue (be it children’s safety, welfare or wellbeing), reach an independent decision, then use sheer numbers to make changes.

She said, “I believe that when a need is demonstrated, you have to shift gears to recommend positive change when change is warranted. I see PTA as not just a forum, but a fulcrum for change.”

“Perhaps it was the times in which I found myself. They lent themselves to activism,” she mused, speaking of the issues of the ’60s and ’70s.

Through the years, Mrs. Ungar turned her volunteer service into a satisfying career, something, she said, which bewildered her father. “He could not understand how I could not get paid for all I did,” she said, smiling. “I told him, ‘They couldn’t afford me. ’”

Today, Mrs. Ungar chairs the New Jersey Math Coalition, and serves on New Jersey United for Higher Standards, a cooperative organizationrepresentingthestate PTA, Prudential and the Commission of Higher Education. She also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Public Education Institute at Rutgers University.

Because of her experience, and the perspective she brings to the table, Mrs. Ungar continues to serve as a sounding board for local school officials and PTA leaders. Her advice is simple: “Find out the manner in which you can do something and do it. You’ll be surprised how good it makes you feel.”

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